Lynn Rosenthal just wanted a bagel. ""If you don't use their language, they refuse to serve you,"" said Rosenthal, a college English professor from Manhattan.
A few weeks ago, Rosenthal was forcibly removed from a New York Starbucks for an argument that spawned from her refusal to indicate whether or not she wanted butter or cheese on her multigrain bagel. The cashier would not serve her unless Rosenthal specifically chose a topping. This put Rosenthal past the tipping point, causing her to lash out against all of Starbucks' language policies.
Somewhere along the generational lines, the social decorum we inherit as children got lost in translation. Because of personal frustration from two opposing sides of the Starbucks language divide, two full-grown adults couldn't trade a few bucks for a bagel.
The tiff about bagel spread illuminates a bigger language problem spreading across the entire United States: Starbucks isn't the only one enforcing strict language policies.
The idea of English as America's official language is nothing new.
Recently, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota suggested his state adopt English as its official language. It's most likely just a lame-duck conservative ploy to appear further right than his party opponents, but it could add to the divisiveness consuming the nation.
Especially in urban-city environments like downtown Madison, or the Twin Cities, where 120 different languages are spoken in the public school systems, prioritizing English above the rest is simply a slap in the face to the diversity that defines the area.
When customers walk into Starbucks, it's a foreign land. A menu filled with items sized venti, tall and grande confuse the average joe, and irritate the desperate caffeine addict. But the regular crowd in Starbucks is equally frustrated by the foreigners who appear too lazy to learn the language, or too stubborn to try.
For Rosenthal, the Starbucks language barrier created distance, discomfort and disrespect. And it's not dissimilar from the barrier faced by immigrants in America.
Diversity, in race or language, plays a major role in our lives. It challenges our norms and requires a thirst for understanding and willingness to learn. A diverse America benefits from multiple cultures, religions and languages because it creates an atmosphere of interest, not superiority. Institutionalized separation through language works against the unifying power of our nation.
If other states officially enforce English, it would affect more than just coffee drinkers. Families leading lives without English would suffer. Paper and pennies would be saved by not translating documents into multiple languages, but uniformity would cost us the cultural differences that define our nation.
I agree that foreigners traveling to countries all over the world shouldn't expect to be catered to, but not having an official language is one of America's finest qualities. It creates a welcoming environment for people, ideas and cultures of all kinds. It is this open environment that has benefited from diversity in the past, and hopefully will continue.An official language will divide, not unite our nation.
Dan Tollefson is a senior majoring in English. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com
